Big Banks Didn’t Expect Fed to Taper in December

Wall Street’s biggest banks told the New York Fed ahead of a central-bank meeting last month that they didn’t expect to see a cutback in Fed bond buying in December, even as it turned out that policy action was exactly what policy makers delivered.

In the survey conducted ahead of the Dec. 17-18 Federal Open Market Committee meeting, the median view of so-called primary dealer banks was that the Fed would cut the pace of its Treasury and mortgage bond-buying stimulus effort at the March meeting.

This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. Distribution and use of this material are governed by our Subscriber Agreement and by copyright law. For non-personal use or to order multiple copies, please contact Dow Jones Reprints at 1-800-843-0008 or visit www.djreprints.com.